Catholic Church Spent Over $2 Million On Lobbying To Block Child Rape Laws – News

Timothy Cardinal Dolan heads the state’s Catholic Conference, which in recent years hired major lobby firms to block legislation designed to help child abuse victims seek justice.]

Source: Virtual Jerusalem

In an effort to block a new bill which aims to provide justice to young victims of sexual abuse, New York’s Catholic Conference has spent over $2.1 million on lobbying.

The Conference is led by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, who has been blasted in recent weeks by advocates trying to end child sex abuse for failing to address the issue. According to The Huffington Post, the religious group has spent its seemingly limitless funds on multiple lobbying groups, including Wilson Elser, which is the biggest firm in Albany, New York, and was receiving $10,000 per month from the church.

The measure seeks to widen the statute of limitations for victims to seek justice. Democrats are also proposing a a one-year “look-back” period during which old cases may be brought back up – an occurrence which may threaten to bankrupt the Church if it passes.

On top of that $2.1 million the Catholic Conference has also utilized their own internal team of lobbyists to halt the bill’s progress.

The Stop Abuse Campaign has been battling against the Conference’s opposition, and are deeply critical of the group’s lobbying crusade.

“They are willing to spend limitless money in order to basically keep bad guys from being accountable for their actions,” the campaign’s COO Melanie Blow told The Huffington Post. “I think they’re doing it because they don’t want to have to pay out settlements.”

The Post also quoted a survivor of abuse who now advocates for child sex abuse victims, Kathryn Robb: “If they need to spend that much money on lobbying, clearly, then, they have some pretty big secrets to hide.”